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Recyclebank

What Can I Do with Old Sports Equipment?

Even if you’ve retired from a sport, your gear might still have life. There are plenty of places that will reuse or recycle used equipment.

Dear Recyclebank:What can I do with old sports equipment? Is any of it recyclable?— Andrew C.

Dear Andrew: Whether you or your kids have lost interest in the sport or outgrown old equipment, there are plenty of ways it can be put to good use after you’ve retired from the game. There are several organizations that accept donations of gently used equipment, which they then pass along to kids and organizations who don’t have the means to buy their own (after all, all those balls, protective gear, and other accoutrements don’t come cheap!).

“Donating sports equipment offers it a second chance to touch lives, rather than resigning it to a landfill forever,” says Robbie Palmisano, a Duke University student who founded All Kids Should Play in Baltimore, MD, when he was a high school senior. “If someone donates just one basketball, that’s twenty more kids who can play the sport of basketball.” The benefits of giving less privileged kids the opportunity to play sports, he says, include learning cooperation, trust, and discipline, which leads to a greater likelihood of succeeding in school and a lessened chance of getting involved in dangerous activities.

The donations shipped to or received locally by All Kids Should Play are distributed to groups and organizations that are in need of the equipment. Most equipment is welcomed, with the exception of football helmets (for liability reasons) and skiing equipment (for lack of demand as well as storage issues).

Palmisano says that anything that cannot be used is forwarded to the local recycling center, which breaks down the parts into recyclable materials.

If you’d rather keep your gear within the community, a post on a community message board or a site like Craigslist or Freecycle might find you an eager recipient. You might even make a few bucks by selling it to Play It Again Sports or another sports resale shop.

If your gear is not in usable condition, you might be able to recycle it, although some equipment is hard to recycle because it is comprised of mixed materials. Bike helmets or other kinds of helmets might be able to be repurposed or recycled. Uniforms can be contributed to a textiles recycling facility. And there’s even a recycling center for tennis balls that have lost their bounce!

With all these options, your sports gear just might be able to stay in play, rather than being relegated to the landfill.

What do you do with old sports equipment? Share your ideas in the comments below.

There are organizations throughout the USA that will take donations of used sporting goods, uniforms, etc. to share with others who may need them. A Google search can help you find them. Here in Maryland, the Bowie Baysox partner with one to collect equipment at some of the home games...Minor League Baseball teams do a LOT for the community, so it's worth looking into that route as well.

When my daughter played, at the end of every season a garage sale was held cuz kids grow up a d out and new ones are coming in. The facility let us use parking lot and they even sold new equipmeng in pro shop. It was equipment extensive read expensive sport . My one concern is helmets. I've read even bike helmets are less protective and should be replaced after a crash.